reactor. >> i spent the afternoon with experts, restoring power is crucial and good news. there is rising radio activity and new smoke from one reactor unit. >> these closeups show the damaged units. experts are mentioning the possibility of death as radiation doses accumulate. >> the oning that may die may be not immediately of the 50 people working around the reactor. >> reporter: he says outside the plant boundary there was still no threat to health. also this afternoon the head of the u.s. nuclear agency said all the cooling water was gone raising the risk of fire, spewing radiation sky ward. he made a rare public speech. >> i am deply concerned that

the current nuclear power plant situation is critical. >> reporter: people continue to stream out, even beyond the evacuation zone. ultimately what may happen is what you see in this graphic of the three mile island melt down. >> there was no melt through of the vessel, even though there was core that bottom. >> it's going to take days or weeks before we know. >> the u.s. department of energy specialisterize now in japan. and berkeley-nuclear engineer are installing a radiation detector on campus although they insist there is no radiation problem here. john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. the earthquake damaged the nuclear reactors in japan is raising eyes about california's nuclear reactors.

ktvu's mike mibach is in san francisco with what he learned. >> reporter: right here outside of pg&e headquarters, one of the power plants. tonight in this earthquake prone state they are calling for more studdies. >> reporter: california's nuclear power plant, today images from the filt near sacramento closed in 1989. officials say nuclear fuel remains on site. >> a small amount measurables. >> reporter: the nuclear power plant creates 15% of the state's electricity. it's designed to with stand a 5.5 magnitude quake. >> the structure where we pull in ocean cooling water for the cooling source is designed to with stand a tsunami up to 45

feet. fault was detected a half mile away from the plant. >> we along with the usgs discovered the shoreline fault. >> it's not understood it was just discovered. >> reporter: the operating license expires in five years. >> pg&e has 12 years to get this permit. it takes two years to go through the process. why the rush? in light of the new fault discovered and in light of japan. >> reporter: and here is numbers for you. u.s. 104 operating reactors. 62 licenses have been renewed. zero have been denied. pg&e saying it's all about safety. they have ground shaking censors and if they sense movement, the plants, they shut down. mike mibach, ktvu channel 2

news. the nation's energy secretary told a hearing today that jupen enough nuclear crisis came about because of a extraordinary combination, the earthquake and tsunami. >> that combination of things that caused this. again, we have to plan for those combinations. >> he assured the senators the administration is doing all it can to make sure american nuclear plants are safe. the anxiety over the radiation threat continues to grow. ktvu's jana katsuyama has this report. >> reporter: aftershocks. this afternoon i was in our hotel in tokyo and felt a 6.0

earthquake start shaking the building. the other thing, the cold, you can see, the trees, the wind that has come through. that is blowing in a big cold front covering japan, creating cold conditions and snow in some parts of the area effected by the earthquake and tsunami. with so many of those evacuees and those evacuated from the fukushima daiichi danger area, that's a large number of people in shelters with no heat. we did go to one of the train stations in tokyo and we found a number of young people moved by what they were seeing and they decided to raise money for the japanese red cross. >> we -- i thought i have to do it. what we can. >> lot of people have been

leaving the city, many foreigners have been evacuating particularly due to the uncertainty over the radiation. reporting from tokyo, jana katsuyama, ktvu channel 2 news. you can watch all of janna's reports by going to www.ktvu.com. look under the japan quake tab. they are flying back to the united states at this hour. hundreds of chinese have been buse busted to the airport and france and russia are making plans to fly their people out. california students in japan are being asked to leave the country as well. the chancellor said he wants all csu students to return to the united states as soon as possible. 35 stanford students are on

their way back and so far 17 berkeley students haven't been ordered to return. >> very emotional moments at sfo as families greeted loved ones returning from jupawn. it was just one of many reunions that played out today. eric will tell us how tough it is to get a flight out of japan. >> a young man was shot in the head in front of a fast food restaurant. ktvu's robert handa is vive where a search for the gunman is underway. >> reporter: as you can see, police are still swarming the bark bank neighborhood here in san jose trying to solve the shooting that took place. >> reporter: the shooting took

place on one of the busiest streets in front of a fast food restaurant. people inside mcdonald's saw two men talking outside when one pulled out a gun, shot the other in the head and ran away. one customer said he was shatting with a female who knee one of the friends. >> i heard a sound, almost like a weak fire cracker. she heard something too. she said, there is a -- now my friend is down. fell to the ground. >> along with sheriff's units they searched the neighborhood. >> that suspect is a light complected his manic male, in his teens, 16-18. >> reporter: schools including del mar high school went into lock down. >> students had to stay inside.

and there was a code blue going on. i was confused and asking my teacher, what is going on. what do we do. >> the incident has characteristics of a gang shooting. >> gangs will carry out violent acts, targeting someonenentially or randomly as part of initiation. it's very unclear at this point and we are hoping to determine that once we identify the victim. >> reporter: at this hour police say the victim is in critical condition and on life support. they are checking surveillance cameras in the area. robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. police are looking for whoever shot and killed a man today in front of his home. the victim was sitting with a woman inside a truck in front of the home on west street. police say neighbors reported shots at 8:30 this morning. police have no suspects in that

shooting. >> we have new video to show you from the shooting at a bar in san francisco. police say 2 men omened fire monday night on 18th street. in this footage released today you can see people inside the bar diving for cover. five men were shot, one was critically injured but his condition has improved and he is now expected to urvive. at this point no suspects have been named. blue shield announced a change of mind. saying rates will not be raised this year. the plan lost $27 million last year and expects more losses this year. the financial risk is worth it to help people in these tough times. the labor department reported whole sale prices jumped last month by the cost of food and energy. the price index was up 1.6% in

february. that is twice the increase for january. food prices went up, their steepest increase in 36 years and energy costs were up 3.3%. >> construction start ups going down. new home construction dropped to a seasonally adjusted 475,000 homes in february. down 22-1/2% from january and the lowest level in two years. those numbers combined with the crisis in japan pushed stocks lore again today. the dow dropped 242 points, losing 2%. the nasdaq set 2%. >> the tokyo stock exchange,

the average is down 3.7%. yesterday it closed up 5.7% after losing 11% the day before. the vote is now underway on governor's brown's plan, why republicans say it is nothing but a drill. >> more rain in your forecast as we roll into the next 36 hours. i will show you which areas will see the most rain.

the federal budget is once again a game of chicken in congress. they passed a spending plan good for three weeks. the senate must pass the bill before friday morning. republicans and democrats will keep negotiating a longer- termclusion to fund the government through september. >> lawmakers right now are voting on jerry brown's plan to

close the state's budget deaftset. ktvu's ken pritchett was on the floor and live now with why many are saying this isn't a real vote, more like a drill. >> reporter: frank, we left the floor a short time ago. right now lawmakers are voting on the governor's budget. it is a vote on 20 different bills. this could take days. a bill to put tax extensions on the june ballot. >> we are increasing government with this governor's budget. by 31%. >> reporter: it started hours late with a bill to eliminate -- this is one of many bills expected to pass. the senate was slower to the start. democrats say they are willing to make massive cuts but

republicans call this a drill because they know republican votes are needed to put tax extensions on the ballot. >> i think we are more than meeting republicans half way, to ask just two of them to let the voters vote. >> reporter: the tricky one here is getting the republican support to put the tax extensions on the ballot. they will probably save that vote for last. democrats say they will make the cuts regardless. if tax extensions do not go on the ballot, that means lawmakers will have to cut an additional $12 million. we will get information from the floor, we will have it for you at 6:00. ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >> a pole shows fewerrer california voters -- in october of 2009, 40% said the level of

benefits for public workers was about right. 32% said they are generous. now the opinions flipped. 73% support setting an upper limit or salary cap. 69% want workers to contribute more to their pension and healthcare. once again tonight a lot to talk about when it comes to the weather. i guess this is the break before more rain? >> yeah, more rain in the forecast. few sprinkles this morning. you see the clouds moving out of the area now. those clouds making way for yet another weather system off the gulf of alaska. this one a colder weather system. temperatures today warmed up nicely. 59 in oakland. tomorrow, another pretty okay

day. the clouds will be there and they will be increasing clouds. tomorrow night, showers in the north bay. by friday heavy rain in the forecast, and scattered showers through your weekend. overnight lows cool off. a little clear sky out there. what that brings us, the patchy valley fog. it's that time a year. nights are getting shorter but we still have a great potential with high dew points for fog. we haven't had it in a while. tomorrow morning, be ready for it. the places most impactred petaluma and santa rosa, napa. i don't think it's one of those deals, it's patchy. should burn off quickly. tomorrow temperatures warm nicely. mostly sunny skies. i want you to see how active

this is. very active pacific. another weather system gets here friday. a wet day. winter storm warnings will go off in the mountains for friday night into saturday. take us through the omputer weekend. you can look at tomorrow and friday as well. i will see you back here in a few minutes. police reopened south bascom avenue. a deadly shooting outside a mcdonald's. again, police just reopened south bascom avenue in san jose. voters will get the chance to wake in on a new composting facility. the issue would go to voters in november. it sets aside 10 aches for a

composting plant. coming up, an update on a deadly plane crash in southern california. also, getting off the streets. the insight the new mayor hopes to gain from this event to help the homeless find a home. >> why a boxing champ is stepping into the ring for two american hikers held in iran.

. one of the most famous muslims in the united states has appealed to iran to release two students. a letter that muhammad ali wrote last month was obtained. muhammad ali asked for compassion for josh fattal and shane bauer. muhammad ali septa similar letter before sarah shourd was released last september. it's not known if there was a connection between that letter and her release. four journalists are missing in libya. they were last heard from yesterday as they covered the retreat of rebels. officials told the times they are trying to locate the four. we learned that two real

estate developers were among five people killed in a crash. the plane went down this morning as it took off from long beach airport. it was taking off for salt lake city when it crashed and burned. five people died. the cause of this crash is under investigation. hundreds of people got hair cuts, eye exams and many other services. these parks were reserved for those who rarely get such vep treatment. crowds of homeless people, even their pets found a warm welcome at the homeless connect. this event brings volunteers from corporations, small businesses and the community to provide help to the homeless. there were chair massages.

wheelchair repair and counseling. this was the first homeless connect for the new mayor ed lee. he said it's a great opportunity to reach out to those in need. >> while we are giving these services that they would never receive on the streets, we are giving them opportunity to talk with us about their long-term ideas, what do they need to get off the streets. >> homeless connect as well as supportive housing services have plate a big difference for those who live on the streets. since the program started in 2004, homelessness dropped by 40%. earn certainty over the budget, california school directs issued 19,000 layoff notices so far. almost 500 school employees in san francisco received notices yesterday. add that to 540 in oakland.

900 in san diego and 5,000 in los angeles. law requires districts to give out the notices by march 15. although not all will be carried out. flights from japan are landing here at san francisco international and more trying to get out right now. an emotional reunion inside this terminal today. bay area pipelines that are missing their safety check records. find out which neighborhoods are next to the pipelines.

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daughter who flew in today from japan. it's a story being played out over and over. people leaving japan because of concerns about a nuclear disaster. very emotional reunions today. >> reporter: passengers arriving here at the terminal, their flights have been packed today. i can tell you our flight carrying our crew landed in the last 30 minutes and we caught up with one family. >> reporter: a week of worrying for this family came to an end at sfo. >> it was so busy. i was lucky i left early. >> reporter: she was one of many leaving japan today. concerns about the nuclear crisis are getting more intense. >> we are sad about what is

going on in japan. >> reporter: the airlines wouldn't say how full the flights have been but passengers and officials confirmed any seats out of japan are in high demand. >> they are full. people coming back. this is a slow time of year so that's unusual for that load. >> it's a different story on the departure side. japan air said its loads are down and all flights to japan are half full at best. >> reporter: the toughest decision is yet to come. she teaches english in japan. and skegteral goback soon. >> beginning of april. >> reporter: are you concerned? >> yeah. >> japan air said they are getting requests for refunds and it is granting them for

flights to certain airports. ktvu channel 2 news. in japan the recovery efforts is fouled by 100 countries that offered help. still many are without the basics, let alone comfort. now much of that country is getting hit by another blow. snow is falling. and unseasonably cold weather. people in parts of japan don't have food, water and fuel. but there appears to be calm. the stretch half a mile down city blocks. in some areas there is rationing and others panic buying. >> i don't have gas. i don't have have heat. i don't have electricity. i don't have anything in my home. to survive all i can do is wait. >> in the northeast part of japan the search for urvivers continue. here the man districts crews to

a neighbor's flattened home. >> you think there might be something? >> yes. yes. >> but they find nothing. scenes such as this one are becoming more common. a body is pulled by a recovery crew, five days orphthe earthquake and tsunami, the hope of finding anyone alive is diminishing. here a temple is doubling as a shelter. 17,000 residents are missing. the temple was unhormed. >> the official death toll from the earthquake and tsunami is more than 4300 people. thousands are still missing. as we told you, crews in japan continue to attempt to restore power to a power plant threaten agmelt down. all of the water is gone from

one of spent fuel pool that most troubled nuclear power plant. officials are denying that. if there are no water radiation levels could be high and temperatures could go up so high it could lead to a melt down. so far over a million dollars has been donated to help the red cross provide food, shelter and other assistances. at&t is contradicted $275,000. you can also help hep, go to www.ktvu.com, for a list of charities raising money to aid the victims of the earthquake and tsunami. look under the japan earthquake tab. arve the san bruno blast an agency is demanding the utility

take safety measures. >> reporter: less than an hour ago the commission accuse odpg&e of willful noncompliance. new dales about the gas pipeline pg&e says it has no safety records for. >> reporter: the september 9 explosion prompted a massive investigation into pg&e's safety testing on high pressure gas pipelines. yesterday pg&e said it had found all but 8% of its safety records. today we learned the orange line on this map represents some of the missing safety records. those orange lines run near schools in south san francisco. a cemetery and a recreation center. a pg&e spokesman declined to

appear on camera today. >> good progress. we know we need to do more. we propose an aggressive plan to inspect and test key pipelines. including hydro testing. >> reporter: it said it's too early to tell whether consumers will help pay and test pipelines. share holders should flip the bill. >> the important thing is the sanctions and the costs of all of these inspections needs to come not from rate payers but come out of pg&e's profits. >> reporter: and again, late today state public officialsindicated fines for pg&e. reporting live in san francisco, david stevenson, ktvu channel 2 news. the energy department is

making its estimates on when gas prices may stop going up. june but prices could also go higher. bay area prices are now over $4 a gallon and that is calling for more investments in to alternative sources and transit. >> keep people's money in their pockets. >> the energy department said the public's number one concern is gas prices. prosecutors in the barry bonds trial released dozens of vice mails. prosecutors say the tapes are evidence of rage caused by steroid use. bell is set to testify in barry

bonds' trial that he became abusive verbably. bonds' attorneys want to exclude the recordings. the trial is set to begin next monday. man accused of barricading himself inside a bank today made a court appearance today. he brought this story to you live. hesurened and no one was hurt. he appeared with a attorney and the judge set a rangement for tomorrow. -- arrangement for tomorrow. the safety of full body scanners. the asounding milestone twitter users have just reached.

apple is changing the way people buy. the change follows customer complaints about children racking up hundreds of dollars worth of charges. kids had free rain for 15 minutes till a password needed to be entered again. now users have to enter a paz word to enter i tones and when they want to buy something.

in a set back, a animistalist down grading apple's shares. the slow sales are on competition from the android. next monday twitter will celebrate its fifth year of tweeting. on march 21, the founder sent his first tweet. now five years later, 8% of all americans use twitter and twitter estimates its user post a billion tweets a week. wine drinkers hit a milestone. americans drank more wine than the french did. 4billion bottles of wine.

100million more than the french. those france beat americans when it comes to per capita. life exspectancy in the u.s. hit a high. 48 years and 2 months. that's an increase of 2 months. it's based on the number of death certificates in 2009. white women can expect to live longer and white men can expect a shorter life exspectancy. what congress is investigating, these security devices at use in the bay area. we got rain to talk about as we move into the weekend. i will show you where and when.

congress held a hearing into the safety of airport scanners. this follows a report they might be leaking radiation. leaders questioned whether the tsa knows how much radiation is being emitted on to passengers. the agency admits errors in its studies but says the problems are bookkeeping. the devices need to work safely and be more effective at stopping terrorists. >> they are still determined to come after us. and i think therefore it's important that we have in place systems that work. >> the tsa is requesting several million dollars to employ millions more.

six cities will see a sales tax increase on april first. the increases range from a quarter to half a percentage point. sonoma voters okayed an additional sales tax amount. the rate there will remain at 9%. the regents met to grapple with millions in cuts. the state already cut $500 million from uc's budget but said 10 campuses should be prepared to lose $1 billion in funding. thum on the cut depends on whether voters extend tax extensions. workers for the university of california rallied today demanding they protect

employees from budget cuts. protesters chanted outside the mission bay campus, demanding they keep their hands off of worker's wages and benefits. lower paid employees such as food service workers and bus drivers should not have their pay, benefits or healthcare cut. >> i am a cusstoweddian, been there for 20 years, this is really hard for us because we are the lowest paid workers. >> workers also rallied against the budgets cuts at berkeley today. an update on a story we have been following. today is the deadline for the eviction of the church congruitation. the eviction is fraudulent and the result of a predatory loan

he says. the sheriff's office told us the eviction could come anytime in the next two weeks. the bank owns the property and said it has gone beyond typical protocol to solve the issue. controversy in the crystal cathedral. choir members asked members to sign a document that take as stand against homosexuality. members say the statement is offensive and jesus loved everyone. a story of survival. we spoke to a woman attack and left to die and tonight she is fighting back. julie haener in the news room with other stories. why coffee lovers are upset about a possible deal that will bring a change to coffee.

a rally against foreclosiers take aim at a bank, what protesters are trying to do. and the precautions to monitor radiation from japan reaching us here in the bay area. these stories and more at 6:00. the california public commission is taking public input on a proposal to add a new area code in santa clara county. the commission layed out two options. split the area into the old 408 area cold and the new 669 area cold or give every new number the new area code. >> they considered the option and voted unanimously to support the overlay plan. >> there will be another hearing tonight at 7:00 a at city hall and two more

tomorrow. a $1 million gift to improve hiking trails. some on the planning commission worry about increased traffic. the town counsel is expected to take up the issue at tomorrow's meeting. >> let's go to chief meteorologist bill martin. >> more rain in the forecast. outside we go, there is cloud cover throughout the central area. to the santa clara valley, san jose 59 degrees. mild there. as we roll in to tonight, more clouds. i think slight chance for a sprinkle here and there but nothing of consequence. in to pacific, a very active pattern. we got another system headed our way for friday. as the clouds increase, we will see a few sprinkles. tomorrow is pretty much a nice

day. late in the day, north bay sprinkles develop. not enough to ruin your day. friday it's enough to ruin friday and saturday. rain and wind friday into saturday morning, rain, wind, low no levels as well. the computer model, tomorrow morning, not bad. rain stays north. thursday afternoon, the clouds increase. maybe a sprinkle north. friday, look at that, 10:00 a.m. friday, it's going off, through the bay area into friday afternoon and into the mountains friday evening. friday is a wet day. right now it's just a winter storm watch. we are looking looking looking for snow fall down to 4,000 feet. the last storm, snow levels were around 6, 7,000 feet. what am i saying? tomorrow, just luxe today, friday, very wet, windy and one of those days when you are trying to get away, slow go.

forecast tomorrow, 60s. five day forecast, looks like this, definitely is a wet period ahead. i see you shaking your head. >> normally we had one good day and one rainy day. >> doesn't look that great. >> friday is the wheelhouse for the next rain ehaven't. >> thank you. bullies take aim at a new target. why a child's special needs makes them vulnerable and what washington wants to do about it.

being poor is not necessarily a permanent condition. a reports says in 2004, 2005, 2006, 29% was in poverty for two months. only three% were poor the entire time. as people move out of poverty, others move in. special needs kids were given an opportunity to speak out in washington d.c. they are trying to raise awareness about a report that says kids with disabilities are 2-3 times more likely to be bullied. an actor revealed that when she

was younger bullies called her names and forced her to eat sand. >> it's not fair and it's hurtful. >> according to congress, the report says 80% of the people who witnessed children being bullied do nothing to stop it. some members are drafting legislation to require schools to do more to protect students. a coffee war is brewing begin a bay area business and stash bucks. the -- starbucks. plus an update on a crime scene wrapping up in san jose. these stories and more coming up as ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00 is next.

. freezing temperatures, thousands still missing and new

warnings about japan's nuclear crisis. the latest from the country. what he is accused of doing to a woman and how she is fighting back by not staying quiet. good evening everyone. i am frank somerville. >> and i am julie haener. the nuclear crisis in japan is going from bad to worse. the head of the regulatory agency said all of the cooling water is gone from one of the spent fuel pools at the nuclear power plant. that raises the risk of fire which spews radioactive material skyward. workers tried to use a police water canon to try to cool one of the reactors after strong